ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

After too long watching injustice and corruption, the people of Bucharest are now turning the wheels of justice. Standing against the illegal capture and killing of homeless animals, the people of Romania are taking to the streets in ever increasing numbers to defend those who cannot defend themselves.

They are bringing a message to Romania that injustice will always fail... and humanity will always take its place.

Romania, the only country in Europe

where Police protects the law breakers

ASPA head, Razvan Bancescu, had to be restrained by Police after he violently attacked people on the streets

Sorin Oprescu, the mayor of Bucharest is a personal buddy of Bancescu. He protects him and seems to believe that laws are there to be ignored

Civilizations have evolved to respect order contained within law... Now, imagine if you will, a society which has such laws but never enacts them: cosmetic, deceptive, anarchic! A society where there is no adherence to laws, resulting in volatility, anarchy and instability... in a European country.

There exists such a society! Not at the edge of civilization but by invitation, at the edge of the European Union. A Union where officials can freely invite but then declare that they have no controls... NO COMPETENCE. They invite and then, if issues occur, they declare that they are INCOMPETENT!

Let us lay down beside you - the discerning judge - the law and the government ignorance of their own laws. We speak not one word but let you, the discerning listener decide: a law abiding society or one which exists at the very edge of anarchy BUT regarded by the wise and astute in Brussels as a valid contemporary member of the European family?

where a penitentiary center serves also as "shelter" for homeless dogs and where the applications to adopt animals are processed to verify personal details of applicants including addresses and salaries, and which is considered sensitive information in any society, are being checked by the prisoners in said prison and which is Bragadiru prison!

where the senior figure in a position of responsibility, in this case, Razvan Bancescu, had to be restrained by police after he had beaten up people on the streets, including an attempt to violently strike a woman. This happened after he had - apparently intentionally - cut the way off a car from the Bucharest Team that followed the dog catchers to document their nightly illegal actions. His ruthless action resulted in the injury of three people who had to be taken to hospital, plus the woman that he had physically attacked. His brutal, ruthless action, which would have been an embarrassment for any civilized country and would have challenged his suitability for office and which indeed made a mockery of the Romanian authority's abilities to appoint and control, did however not result in his suspension, but he's now simply being escorted by police to protect HIM

After Razvan Bancescu had caused a traffic accident and then beaten up people during the night from 7th of July, 2014, the Bucharest Team had been accompanied the next night by camera teams from Antena1, Antena3, Realitatea TV, Romania TV and DigiTV. The dog catchers where accompanied and protected by the police!

12 cars/team where present during the night from 8th of July to ensure the protection of the populace and the animals from ASPA's illegal activities and to document them. At one occasion, the dog catchers could indeed by hindered from taking dogs from private properties, but, sadly, two other attempts failed because, in one case the police protected the dog catchers, and in the other case, they refused to come when called.

The Bucharest team member wrote:

"On the Europe bridge, 2 dogcatchers cars (accompanied by local police with car B-130-PLB) have captured a dog, it was called 112 to 22.53, and the operator there said she did not care about the dogcatchers and to no longer call the 112 for something like this. [...] The dog was taken on private property.The three dogcatchers stole a dog on private property in the presence of police, local police, and the crews in the presence of televisions that have accompanied us. Although I have proven that the puppy has been stolen, the police failed to stop the catchers and have not led them to the unit. In this time the dog catchers cars are escorted to the shelter to leave catches. Of course there's no vet there."

For too long this nation's inheritance of a communist dictatorship has ensured the continuance of corruption and media propaganda and it was like a ray of hope that some media showed the uncensored version of the video showing Bancescu brutally attacking people, including a woman, causing her hospitalization, and which identifies Romania as a nation whose policies are in ill-accord with all civilized societies.

The video evidence of this government representative's uncontrolled behavior is now circulating the world and the eyes of the world are watching Romania now... The controversy created by ASPA Head, Razvan Bancescu's actions had even been debated publicly on Romanian national TV and it seemed as if the wind had changed... as if the word whispered on the wind was 'Truth'!

Sorin Oprescu beleives that he can make his own laws in Bucharest.. as if Bucharest was an autonomous state, unrelated to the rest of Romania

The 'gentleman' showing the middle finger to people is Claudiu Ancuta, Project Coordinator at ASPA. He has an equal position as Bancescu... he is Oprescu's protegee and he was brought at ASPA along with Bancescu and Treeroiu.

He continued that the meeting was attended by the Prefect of the capital, Paul Nicolae Petrovan, the responsible of the General Directorate of Bucharest Police, the General Directorate of the Gendarmerie of Bucharest, the General Directorate of the Police and Local Controls of Bucharest, and the project-coordinator of the authority for the supervision and protection of animals, Razvan Bancescu, and that:

"Those present at the meeting agreed and concluded that although the Norms are suspended, the legal base exists which means the program for the management of stray dogs can be continued without problems".

Oprescu further stated that the Director gen adj. of the General Directorate of Bucharest Police Chief Commissioner, Roberto Stefan Ababei, noted that the police in the Capital would continue to maintain "a climate of order and public safety, ensuring prompt intervention in order to prevent any conflicting moods in Bucharest", and that the capital Police officials, together with local police and gendarmerie and ASPA had established a way of operating and information that would allow them to intervene in the shortest time and that dog catchers had been advised to file a complaint in case they would be assaulted.

An outraged visitor of Oprescu's page wrote:

"Shame on you and corrupt Romanian politics, unworthy to be member of EU. What do you care your chatter from yesterday to suspend the killings - today you legalize doings of ASPA and Bancescu. He is not the victim, he is aggressor and murderer of thousands of innocent animals - we saw it - worldwide.

Shame on you Romania, outrage justice and EU standards. All your public shelters are illegal working without needed standards. What has Bancescu in hand to extort you to do this - to be dubious? He is the real mayor of Bucharest - the world is laughing at you.

The world knows who is guilty to the tragic death of a little child Ionut - the strays were without blame - you are the blame in the world. Turn and kick out Bancescu for your reputation."

By his decision, Oprescu totally ignores that on Friday, 20th June 2014, the Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the international animal welfare organisation Four Paws, and suspended the Methodological Norms of the stray dogs euthanasia law. In the absence of Methodological Norms, Law 258/2013 (formerly OUG 155/2001) - commonly known as the Killing or Slaughter Law - no longer holds any applicable norms or legal framework to capture stray dogs, nor to issue a decision to kill them and thus became inapplicable. Thus - and with immediate effect - not only the killing of healthy dogs is illegal, but so is their capture.

How rotten is a society where authorities disregard laws and court orders, where the police not only watches dog catchers stealing dogs from people's yard but even protects them, and where those who try to protect the populace from their illegal actions, will not only be blocked from doing so but even risk to be prosecuted?

At about the same time that Oprescu made his announcement on his Facebook page, his buddy, Razvan Bancescu, appeared on Romanian national TV saying that they would continue to capture stray dogs and that they would even prepare a draft council decision that would allow dog catchers to enter on private properties and to take the dogs. Such a decision would be unconstitutional and it would violate European and Universal Human Rights as well as Civil Rights in Romania but seems totally acceptable to the criminal and arrogant authority that is ASPA and their protector, Sorin Oprescu.

Bancescu also spoke about the number of stray dogs living in Bucharest admitting that no-one really knows their numbers and that their estimate of 65,000 dogs was made by extrapolation. He added that since then they had gathered between 25,000 and 35,000 dogs and that more than 10,000 dogs had been "euthanized".

Fact is that there are almost no stray dogs left in the capital and which is why the dog catchers have started to steal dogs from people's yards and even to take dogs while people are walking them on the leash!

This happens in the situation when the 228 km2 are an empty space. If we now divide the 65,000 dogs at the “free” space of Bucharest, respectively at 69 km2 it results that the density of stray dogs will be 942 dogs per 1 km2 or approximately 1 stray dog per 1 m2.

At every 3 steps we walk approximately 1 meter. It results that at every 3 steps we make, we would have met a stray dog in the capital of Bucharest, if ASPA's estimates had been correct!

While the 'brave of Bucharest' gathered this afternoon again in front of the ASPA base at Oltenitei Street, 129, to document and hinder ASPA's illegal actions, so did the IREC supporters (the supporters of the Slaughter Law) who came to applaud the dog catchers who were escorted and protected by the Police.

In the video, IREC spokesperson Ana Maita screams to them:

"Bravo! Assure the law implementaion. Don't let the urban terrorists to make the jungle law!"

This "brave" action comes only a few weeks after IREC had staged the probably most stupid flash mob in the history of flash mobs when they protested against the suspension of the Slaughter Law, wearing paper masks with the printed portrait of Ionut Anghel and having their children on a lead!

In the next video, Ionut Anghel's father, when asked: "What about the abandoned children?" responding: "What's the problem? Abandonment happens everywhere! Even in Germany and Amerîca (US)"
So from his point of view, Romania is in total accord with other arguably more civilized countries, although it has the most shameful record of abandonment in Europe and the European history. Since the Ceauşescu area, Romania's motto has always been: "Have a problem? Abandon it!"

In 1989, over 100,000 children were abandoned and crowded in 700 orphanages;

in 2012, the situation remained deplorable. A report by HCC Romania was released in April 2013 and showed that there are still more than 20,000 children in Romania’s orphanages. From the total of 159 placement centres, half of the children of school age are not enrolled in the educational system;

a undercover investigation by Al Jazeera, released in early 2014, showed that disabled people being mistreated, locked up in dark rooms, tied to their beds;

according to the Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC) [7] over 30,000 people with disabilities, including people with intellectual disabilities and people with mental health issues, are still warehoused in Romanian institutions. When one person dies in an institution, another fills their bed, often for the rest of their lives too. Placement in these institutions still means lifelong segregation for them, with very little hope of ever being able to regain their freedom, or even to challenge their detention.

The spotlight has increasingly been turned to the appalling conditions in these institutions due to a number of recent and highly-publicised scandals including:

Preventable deaths from pneumonia of a number of young people with disabilities segregated in an institution in Bucharest. Romanian television broadcast the disgusting conditions in May 2013 showing residents tied to their beds, being shouted at and beaten, being force-fed and being kept in the dark day and night.

The death of 18-year old Valentin Câmpeanu who was killed by the Romanian government. He had HIV and learning disabilities. In 2004 he died in an unheated cleaning cupboard of a government-run hospital, malnourished and with nurses refusing to care for him, ignorantly thinking that they could catch HIV from touch. The Centre for Legal Resources in Bucharest, in conjunction with Interights, have taken Mr Câmpeanu's case to the European Court of Human Rights, because the Romanian justice system has failed to hold anyone accountable for his death.

It’s a scandal that thousands of people are warehoused in institutions, representing a gross and systematic violation of international human rights law. It’s a scandal that their segregation and abuse is being funded by the European Commission. And it's a shock hearing that many Romanians, like in this case Mr Anghel, believe that Romania is no different than other "civilized" countries.

IREC supporters (the supporter of the Killing Law) came to applaud the dog catchers whose actions are illegal

"For seven days the pound and ASPA cars are being prevented by these people (animal-lovers) from doing business. I came here to make sure that these people are allowed to do their job and to collect dogs that come to kill children in the streets. We have children, we do not want them to be killed by stray dogs on the streets or in parks."

A country that cannot care for its most vulnerable members like the orphans or abandoned children, the disabled, the elderly or the Roma... where people are forced to live in the sewage of Bucharest, literally in an underworld, has police vans escorting dog catchers so that they can perform their illegal actions, and we do not only mean, catching stray dogs (there are almost none left in Bucharest) but also stealing dogs from people's yards... all under the protective eye of the Bucharest Police, paid with Romanian taxpayer's money, and who even threaten those who want the laws to be upheld. Surreal actually!

What a country!

We would suggest that anyone who enters Romania, leaves any concept of reason and normality at the border. Even the insane would regard this as a crazy, mis-controlled country. A country lost in time... lost in soul.

What YOU can do to help

please consider making a small donation to help our brothers and sisters in Bucharest to purchase benzine and to continue documenting ASPA's illegal actions

please send a kind SMS to the mayor of Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu, at +40.754.055.515, to let him know how you feel about him and ASPA offending the world community with their barbaric acts and anarchic disregard for the laws, which in any civilized society, must form the foundations upon which a society can claim the word ‘civilized’

please send an email to the new Romanian MEPs. You will find their contact details of all 32 MEPs easily here!

Your voice can be heard - here in this place.

Please comment!

﻿Patience is power!

Patience is not an absence of action;rather it is timing as it waits on the right time to act,for the right principles and in the right way.

Donations can be made simply and easily by using the PayPal button but PayPal deducts some costs for donations. These can be be avoided by sending a donation to: exposing-aspa@mail.com and selecting 'gift'. Either option is acceptable and both will provide essential support for the 'brave ones' of Romania.